The [[Western Company]] '''Annihilator''' is an armed attack [[helicopter]] in [[Grand Theft Auto IV]] and [[GrandTheft Auto V]] based on the [[wp:UH-60 Black Hawk|MH-60L Black Hawk]]. The Annihilator's design and real-life counterpart are comparable to those of the [[Raindance]] in [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]. It fills the attack helicopter role previously taken by the [[3D Universe]] [[Hunter]]. The Annihilator is upgraded in [[The Lost and Damned]] and [[The Ballad of Gay Tony]], it moves faster and fires explosive rounds instead of the regular ones in [[Grand Theft Auto IV]].

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The [[Western Company]] '''Annihilator''' is an armed attack [[helicopter]] in [[Grand Theft Auto IV]] and itsepisodes based on the [[wp:UH-60 Black Hawk|MH-60L Black Hawk]]. The Annihilator's design and real-life counterpart are comparable to those of the [[Raindance]] in [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]. It fills the attack helicopter role previously taken by the [[3D Universe]] [[Hunter]]. The Annihilator is upgraded in [[The Lost and Damned]] and [[The Ballad of Gay Tony]], it moves faster and fires explosive rounds instead of the regular ones in [[Grand Theft Auto IV]].

Contents

Description

GTA IV

A NOOSE-Controlled Annihilator scouting for the wanted player in GTA IV.

Operated by the LC Patriotism And Immigration Authority, or NOOSE, the Annihilator is one of the two armed Law Enforcement Vehicles (The other being the Fire Truck which is a "law enforcement" vehicle used for riot control) in GTA IV. It is occasionally seen patrolling the skies above Liberty City in single player mode, often over the East Borough Bridge and Hickey Bridge. Its livery is modeled after the US Custom And Border Protection's Office Of CBP Air and Marine Colors.

The helicopter moves faster than any other vehicle in GTA IV, but is more difficult to slow down as a result. An effective way to slow down is to stop accelerating, pull back, and accelerate once again with the L-Stick still held back, as opposed to simply reversing.

The miniguns on the annihilator.

The Annihilator is armed with four side-mounted Miniguns, which are difficult to aim and require reloading after prolonged fire, but which are hugely devastating to people and vehicles alike, and are supplied with infinite ammunition, although they overheat after 100 rounds are fired, so player would have to wait for two seconds before they can resume firing. Also, many people use the rotors as weapons as they will kill people who get caught in them and make the vehicles fly, along with chopping off parts of other helicopters, such as the tail. Normally, AI-Controlled Annihilators never use their miniguns, instead relying on two NOOSE Tactical Response Unit Officers seated on the two rounds to fire on the player with M4A1s.

A passenger in an Annihilator (or any other helicopter) can shoot a rifle whether they are in the large passenger bay in the center of the chopper, or in the co-pilot's seat, however this is very difficult, as the helicopter's speed and lack of steadiness will not aid in the accuracy of the weapon. Also, when a pistol or submachine gun is fired from a helicopter (particularly the Annihilator), it will usually not have the range to hit the target.

The only weapons that can truly duke it out with the Annihilator are Rocket Launchers, assault rifles, or other Annihilators. The RPG can destroy the Annihilator, or blast its tail off, forcing it to spin out of control. Annihilators facing their counterparts can do the same, or they can shoot off the rotor, also causing a crash. Rifle users have the range and stopping power to potentially kill pilots and/or passengers. Patient Snipers may also be able to pluck a pilot out of the sky with a headshot.

Entering the Annihilator in Multiplayer automatically grants the player a RPG with 8 rounds.

Episodes from Liberty City

The Lost and Damned

In The Lost and Damned, the Annihilator was given explosive shells, and the top speed is increased, albeit not very noticeably. The MiniGun rounds will destroy cars, trucks, motorcycles, and even other helicopters and enemy players with only a few shots. However the rounds fired from the Annihilator can not be seen in TLAD making accurate shots harder, but the explosive rounds makes up for the inaccurancy. When the explosive rounds, speed, and damage resistance are all put together, this equates to an extremely deadly vehicle, especially when facing an experienced pilot.

The Annihilator is very difficult to acquire in single player in TLAD, possibly because Johnny lacks flight qualifications for any type of aircraft (conversely, Niko knows how to fly helicopters from his time in the military and Luis has recently received a pilot's license). It cannot be seen parked on any of the helipads in the city. As a result, it can only be acquired with cheats, or by sniping an Annihilator pilot flying low enough that the helicopter won't explode upon crashing. The Annihilator remains available in TLAD's Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch.

The Annihilator is also removed from Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch, just as Annihilators were removed from TLAD's Free Mode. The annihilator is still fairly balanced when compared to Buzzard. The Buzzard is equipped with unlimited Machine Gun ammunitions along with unlimited missiles, and is a lot more agile. However, the Annihilator is faster and can hold four people while the Buzzard only holds two, and additionally the Annihilator has more armor and it's explosive ammo makes up for its lack of missiles.

Trivia

When entering or landing the Annihilator in crowded areas, pedestrians will flee the area to give the Annihilator ample space to land. Vehicles, however, will not flee the area. They will instead try to drive around.

During development, the Annihilator was painted black overall, with a NOOSE emblem. The final version includes a yellow stripe along the fuselage.

The Annihilator is the only helicopter in the original GTA IV that is not a variant of the Maverick.

The helicopter, like all other helicopters in the game, can lose its main rotor or tail broom, causing it to either hurtle towards the ground or spin continuously.

Although the Annihilator has four M134 7.62 NATO miniguns, each has an unrealistically low rate of fire (ROF) of 200 rounds per minute (RPM). The ROF of all four guns is 800 RPM (13 rounds per second), comparable that of an SMG; in real life, each of these should fire at least 4000 RPM, with the helicopter's total ROF being 16000 RPM (266 rds/second) to 24000 RPM (400 rds/second) with all miniguns firing. However, when heard from a third-person view, it sounds as if the miniguns are firing much faster than during normal circumstances.

Along with the APC and Buzzard, the Annihilator is one of the few vehicles in GTA IV and its episodes to have mounted weapons (along with the Fire Truck, which has a mounted water cannon not specifically intended as a weapon).

The Annihilator is the only Law Enforcement Vehicle in single player, aside from the Prison Bus, with a radio.

If the tail is broken or shot off, it is possible to keep the helicopter airborne. The player must keep holding the throttle down to keep the helicopter from descending, and use the left thumbstick to keep the helicopter from flipping upside down. As with other helicopters which have lost their tail, it is possible to move slowly in a general direction by nudging the joystick forward when the helicopter is facing the right way.

Just as the main rotor blades can be broken by keeping them in a confined space the tail rotor blades can to be broken, this gives the same effect as the whole tail being broken off, just spinning around in circles.

If the player attempts to climb onto the helicopter's back wings, the player will immediately fall off and take a little damage. Same applies when climbing on the top of mounted miniguns though it is rare to fall off.

If you do break off the tail, you can use the health cheat to make it reappear ; strangely, sparks will fly out of the tail as if it were not there, but is still functional.

Although the Annihilator does not come equipped with a Police Computer, it can still be used for Vigilante Missions. Simply activate the side mission in a different police vehicle, then leave it and enter the Annihilator. The mission will continue as normal. However, the helicopter must descend to street level when approaching the criminals to actually continue with the mission.

The Annihilator has a bullet-proof windshield and door windows, however, when Niko steals one, he will break it with his arm.

Although the Annihilator has been updated on the PC version of GTA IV, the Annihilator has arguably faster miniguns and also has very high amount of damage output. The miniguns seen on the PC Annihilator do not exist on the console versions, therefore for making it harder to kill other players or inflict damage. Although the Buzzard's miniguns shoot at the same speed, they do not have the same amount of damage output when compared to the Annihilator on the PC version.

If you are fortunate enough to find an Annihilator that has crashed and landed, (blown up or not) running into the helicopter will give you an instant 1 star wanted level because it is considered a vehicle of the LCPD.

The Annihailator in the final mission (A Revenger's Tragedy or Out of Commission) of GTA IV have unique properties: the back door are closed and the helicopter have unique warning sound.

Because there can be two NPC operated Annihilators on the map at once, they will constantly crash into each other and buildings. Sometimes, if very lucky, the Annihilators will crash and kill themselves without the player doing anything.